mellowtigger: joystick (gaming)

Something called "mana" is used frequently in computer fantasy games, but why is it called that? Why is it always depicted as something with a dark blue color? I don't know the history of the word, but this YouTube video asks these questions and tries to answer them.

I can't vouch for its etymological accuracy, but I played lots of hours of 3 video games that it mentions as having pivotal influence in this trend. The first was Dungeon Master (1987) on an Amiga, then Warcraft 2 (1995) and Diablo 1 (1997) on pc. These are all important titles in the genre, so I grew up immersed with "mana" as the fuel for magic, and it was always blue in color.

I'm looking for a word

2025-Jan-22, Wednesday 11:17 pm
mellowtigger: (book)

I'm playing a lot of the Pantheon MMO in my spare time. It is still years away from being complete, but there's more than enough to keep me entertained. I keep creating (and sometimes deleting then recreating) new characters to try out all of the different character classes and tradeskills. So far, my highest-progressing characters are shaman, wizard, and ranger. That experimentation process leads me to today's question.

My next character class will be a necromancer. In this game, they can perform an unusual and much-needed service called corpse summoning. When any player's character dies, they leave behind a visible corpse in the game world, still containing all of their character inventory. The player must return to that corpse to retrieve the money and items they carried at the time of their death. That's fine if the corpse is in a convenient location. If not... then corpse summoning is essential. A necromancer can target the currently-living character (respawned in town or other safe location) and magically teleport their distant corpse to them, where they conveniently retrieve all of their lost items.

For my necromancer, I want to learn the tradeskills of 1) carpentry for creation of bank boxes for large storage space which I have decided to call "coffins" and 2) provisioning for creation of meals and drinks which I will call "funeral gifts". So... I need a name that alludes either to "happy" funeral meals amongst the living or to those meals that are delivered with the dead into their tomb. I've been looking through pages about the times from modern practices back to ancient Egypt. So far, nothing stands out as a useful word for these offerings. At some point, I ran across the Latin silicernium, but I'm just not fond of it as a character name.

Are there any language aficionados out there who might know of a word that fulfills this description? I want to summon corpses for people in need, then afterwards hand them food and a bank storage box, saying something like: "Please accept this coffin and funerary meal. We wish the recently departed good luck and safe journey." I'm not even on a roleplay server, but some people do actually roleplay here. I'd just get a kick out of playing a good guide-to-the-afterlife, I think, rather than the expected evil death magician.

But I just can't figure out a character name yet.

gaming and headsets

2024-Dec-28, Saturday 09:49 am
mellowtigger: joystick (gaming)

Does anyone have a favorite wired (preferably USB-A for now, but I know everything's moving to USB-C) headset with mic for long-term wear? It also needs to be on-ear instead of cuffs that surround the ear, because cuffs dig into my eyeglasses and eventually hurt my head. My employer provided this Microsoft LifeChat LX-6000 headset, which has worked quite well for me. I need a backup, though, and I need something for use at my gaming computer. Microsoft apparently doesn't produce headsets any more, so I relied on their recommendations and ordered this Logitech H570E. I'm open to new ideas though.

I don't normally need a microphone at my gaming computer, but I've joined 2 others in a Discord chat to play in a newly-available (only in Early Access) MMO. Pantheon: Rise Of The Fallen is intended to be a game in the same vein as the original EverQuest. I played EQ1 for many years, and I'm enjoying Pantheon, despite its very rough state at the moment. I originally crowdfunded Pantheon back in 2014, but the Kickstarter failed because it didn't meet its fundraising goal. Apparently they've been limping along financially for a decade, with very slow progress using only a few developers. The prominent designer of both EQ1 and Pantheon died in 2019, which didn't help progress either. Once inside and playing, the game obviously needs a lot of work, but it also obviously takes on many of the features of the original EQ1. There are no maps, no quest markers, and you're expected to explore the world from your character's perspective. I'm still experimenting and finding things that fall short, but the "core" of EQ1 is actually there, with moderately improved graphics. This is definitely a computer game (mouse and keyboard) and not a console game (controller). It has a complex UI, with support for in-game macros, just like EQ1. It has easily accommodated my keybind changes to support my left-handed mousing and right-handed keyboarding.

If you're comfortable spending money on things that are still in development and might never reach full potential or might get cancelled, then I can recommend this one. It runs great on Linux with Steam Proton, with one glaring exception. I was confused and roadblocked for a while because selling items was literally impossible, a necessary step in game. Players on Windows computers are supposed to hold the ALT key and right-click an item to sell it at a vendor. I have to use CTRL-ALT-RightClick instead, but at least it works.

happy solstice 2024

2024-Dec-21, Saturday 08:35 am
mellowtigger: (astronomy)

Happy winter solstice 2024. From here, the days start getting longer again. I feel like we're all going to need the "good news" where we can find it in 2025.

I've mentioned the Timberborn game a few times over the years. It's still in early access, but I'm looking forward to its official release soon. I'll leave you with this holiday greeting from their recent patch notes.

Timberborn game Happy Holidays

mellowtigger: joystick (gaming)

If you (or people you know) play No Man's Sky, share the information that everyone should make a backup of their save game file immediately. The game currently includes a game-ending bug that will erase/corrupt your save. If you don't have a backup, then you might have to start the game over again.

Click to read how to backup game files in No Man's Sky...

  1. Steam has this community guide that explains where to find the file that you need to backup. I'm not clear on exactly which "...save#.hg" file should be backed up, so I backed up the whole folder. I relocated Steam on my Linux computer to a separate filesystem partition, so I found the necessary folder at the following location on my computer:
    /game/SteamLibrary/steamapps/compatdata/275850/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Roaming/HelloGames/NMS/

  2. Separately, I recommend at any time (bugged or not) that you make a backup of the file that records which building items you have unlocked. For some reason, it's not at the same location as the save game. If you play in Steam, you can find it on the Steam menu for the game (right-click the game in Steam, select Properties) under "Installed Files", then click "Browse", then select folder "Binaries" then "Settings". Save a copy of "GCUSERSETTINGS.MXML". On my Linux computer, I found it at:
    /game/SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/No Man's Sky/Binaries/SETTINGS/

A player who was affected by this bug has asked online for help finding a solar system that they named planets, flora, and fauna in that system for memories that their dead mother would recall, as an online tribute to the memory of their mother.

Keep an eye out for the "Krasher" system, traveler.

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